News Archives

News Archives - January 5, 2001 - February 12, 2001

Getting Rid of the Intro MovieImpressions's Evercles made this post on the official forum with a simple solution for those who want to get rid of the opening movie which plays whenever you boot up Zeus:

You can delete the file or rename it; then it won't play ever again. Should take no more than 10 seconds.

You don't get much easier than that .

Update: In fact, this may be as effective as a chocolate teapot. It appears that the intro movie, if deleted from the HD, will then spool from the CD. Seems like getting rid of it isn't so easy after all. So, it's still the return key for the moment.

Egyptian CompetitionWhile we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Zeus Editor, Cherub Baltic, over at Pharaoh Heaven, is about to start a new competition. Based on a map and idea by Angel Jayhawk (hey, that's me!) and tweaked by the great competition designer himself it might just be the thing to keep you busy for the next three weeks.

Enhancement Pack Follow-upFollowing the Sierra email which stated that the Zeus Enhancement Pack would be available this Wednesday (Valentine's Day), there's been some debate on the official forum as to whether this can be entirely trusted. Here's what Kraken said on the matter:

When we are 100 percent confident in the worldwide release plan, we will post the information here.

More Adventure Editor NewsNo, not a release date, but Impressions's Krakendropped into the ZH forums to share some information about what will be contained therein:

The Zeus Adventure Editor will allow you to create your own adventures...the terrain upon which they take place, the mission objectives, buildings allowed, events, gods/monsters/heroes appearing -- everything that you see in the adventures you're playing now. The Editor is the same complex and powerful tool that we used in creating Zeus. We're making it more user-friendly and generally transforming it from an internal tool to something that anyone can learn to use. The Editor will be a free download. A few weeks after it ships, you will see player-created adventures offered for downloads on fine websites like this one.

Awardasaurus!Do you think Zeus was the best PC game of last year? If so, then Daily Radar's Awardasaurus wants to hear from you! Once again, thanks to award-spotter extraordinaire Angel Thunder for letting me know about this.

Best Strategy Game of 2000?Thanks to Angel Thunder for pointing out to me that Zeus has been nominated as one of IGN PC's candidates for the title "Best Strategy Game of 2000". As always with awards like this, competition is pretty stiff, so you'd better get voting .

HeavenGames Launches Cossacks HeavenHG are pleased to announce the opening of Cossacks Heaven. Here's what it's all about:

Cossacks Heaven will be dedicated to feature extensive coverage of European Wars: Cossacks, from basic information such as unit stats, to resources for players to get better at their game. The site includes a download section, powered by proprietary software developed by HeavenGames, for gamers to submit their own customized maps, "mod-packs", scenarios and campaigns. In addition, the site includes community-building features such as a player's list, clans directory, and forums.

7 Wonders of the WorldAngel Jayhawk has just posted a few articles on the 7 wonders of the World. Why here at ZH? Here's what A.J. has to say about that:

As this list was originally devised by the ancient Greeks, what better place to have more information on the lot of them than Zeus Heaven. Actually there have been many lists drawn up by many a famous Greek, but the lists containing those monument we know best were been compiled by Antipater of Sidon and Phidon of Byzantium.

Raiding, SchmaidingKraken is busy on the official boards these days - yesterday the UK patch, today this post on raiding, and whether you will ever raid more than 16 units of any product:

No, you can get a lot more than 16. The amount you capture depends not only on the carrying capacity of your surviving raiders, but also on the target city's production of the commodity you're stealing. Generally, bigger cities yield more plunder.

Raiding also yields less plunder as the difficulty level setting increases.

UK Patch AvailableKraken just posted the following message to the official forum:

Zeus UK patch 1.01 is now available for download right here. This patch is for the UK version of Zeus only. It updates the UK game executable to full compatibility with all other language versions. This means an end to the infamous Horse Ranch bug, among others.

It's only 472k in size, so it won't take too heavy a toll on the modem.

Kraken on in-game moviesZeus Producer Kraken posted this message to the official forums regarding in-game movies in Zeus (and the lack of them):

Movie-type animations suck down a LOT of art and sound personnel time -- the Zeus intro took several person-months to create, for example. All projects have finite budgets and timelines for art, sound, programming, etc. Creating movies either (a) reduces the time available for making in-game graphics, or (b) inflates the project budget.

Most people enjoy cutscenes the first few times they're shown, but subsequently click through them or turn them off. Zeus' designer chose to concentrate our art budget on in-game graphics, which is why the game itself has so many splendid animations. How many players still watch the Zeus intro every time you start up the game?

Some of you might have gladly sacrificed a font or two and some custom building animations in favor of victory movies. It's a matter of personal opinion. My point is simply that cutscenes impose tradeoffs.

D-I-Y BlocksJust a quick note today to the effect that you too can create housing blocks like those in the forum thread I posted about yesterday - click here to take a look at the utility people use to make them (first made by Crassus Pauper, adapted to ZH by Angel Jayhawk).

Blocks, Blocks and more BlocksThere's a very interesting thread in the Zeus Game Help forum right now, detailing some of the housing blocks people use in Zeus. Whether you've just picked up the game or have been playing it for a while, this thread and the blocks contained therein will undoubtably be of use to you.

More Map EditorKraken hit the official forums (ouch!) to release some more details about the upcoming Zeus Adventure Editor:

The Zeus Adventure Editor will be the same tool that we used to create the adventures we shipped with Zeus. The required production time involves interface cleanup, documentation, bug fixing and testing, with a bit of new implementation thrown in as well.

Adventure Editor on the Way!Thanks to Sigbjørn Koksæter and PCD for alerting me via email and the forums that an Adventure Editor for Zeus is on the way. Impressions's Krakenposted to the official forums with the following news:

The Zeus Adventure Editor is in production and will be available as a free download. I cannot specify a publication date at this time, but we will of course announce it prominently when it's ready.

Also, UK Zeusers should look out for a cure to the problem of horse infertility, which should be available in the near future.